Daphne du Maurier, the English novelist who died in 1989, fell foul of the
same literary snobs who scoff at Jeffrey Archer’s books, according to her
son, who defended her reputation as a great writer.

The unlikely comparison was made by Christian Browning, du Maurier’s only son,
who said his mother never received great acclaim from critics, even though Rebecca
still sells 4,000 copies a month almost 75 years after it was first
published.

Mr Browning told the Radio Times: “I think it was Sir Arthur
Quiller-Couch [the author and poet] who said to her: ‘The critics will never
forgive